We are all waking up every day, but are we truly living? In our faith journeys, we begin by hearing all of the things that we should not do. Life becomes all about "not doing" the bad. As followers of Jesus, we are called into an active and vibrant life. We are allowed to have fun! We die to our sin, but it is unto being alive in Christ. We are made new! We become carriers of peace, joy, and love to those around us! 

We often find ourselves doing things "for" God instead of being "with" him. We are much more comfortable with doing over being. In a busy season of life, a friend asked if I was enjoying my coffee. When I drank coffee, it was all about staying moving and getting things done. On this day I realized I was not intentionally living my life. 

There were plenty of areas in my work and personal life where I was not paying attention. I was unwilling to slow down and smell the roses. One of the hardest people to see is yourself. I am thankful to have friends and community who will speak truth into my life. It is much easier for us to go about our day emotionally detached and numbed to the things and people around us. 

I would invite you to the moment that my friend called me into. Where are the places in your life that you're missing out on? Where could you be enjoying more? 

Enjoy your spouse. Enjoy your kids. Enjoy your hobbies. Enjoy your home. Enjoy your silence. Enjoy your coffee. 

Contrary to popular belief, the message of Jesus is not a doom and gloom message. Jesus offers love, kindness, acceptance, equality and inclusiveness. We've made the Christian life too serious. 

We've forgotten that in Christ we have a new life! The life of Jesus teaches us that the spiritual life is much more than a service you go to once a week. 

We can connect with God every day and discover what we need. As we slow down and pay attention, we will see God. As we see God, we will begin to truly see ourselves! The more we find out who we are, we will no longer live for the opinions of others. We will be free! 

Isaiah 43 MSG 

Proverbs 4:1 NLT

This episode is shared from the Retreat Youtube Channel! It felt right to also share it hear with our audience of Leaders & Entrepreneurs! A new season of Flow teachings will be coming this fall! We appreciate you! 

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I have never been someone who needed a “word from God” for the new year. As I sat down with my coffee a few mornings back I was open to direction. 

God, what do you have for me this year? Is there anything I’m missing? What or who do you want to open my eyes to in this coming year? 

As I prayed, I quickly journaled “Walk through the open doors.” In my mind, I connected this with thoughts of the new year. 2023 was a year of transition, anxiousness, and rest. As I received the word about open doors, I began to see all the places in my life where I stood at closed doors. I was knocking, turning door knobs, and if I’m honest, trying to pick a few locks. I was trying to break into places where God wasn’t calling me and grace wouldn’t have kept me. 

You see, impatience will always attempt to lead you around the promise to get the blessing. The problem with taking things into our own hands is that the scriptures say that all good things come from Him. There is no shame in this message. It is 100% in our human nature to take things into our own hands. Trust is built, earned, and learned. We must now or later, learn to trust that our father knows best. 

It’s worth taking a deep breath to know that we don’t have to pick any locks or break into any windows this year. Abba has opened doors for each of us. It may not be fully what we expected, but the promise is that it will be better! 

Revelation 3:8 says, “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close.” 

Instead of feeling shame that we’ve taken control again, what if we simply slow down and release each of the things that we need to trust Him with? Freedom and joy always come when we release control and trust Him. 

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What do you do when it seems like you're facing impossible odds? There are moments as a leader where if God doesn't come through, you won't make it. 

In today's show clip, we see how Craig trusted God to finally get to purchase a building for his growing business! 

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For many entrepreneurs, we fail to realize that we are the product. If I'm not taking care of myself, I'm not going to do well for my clients. Oftentimes building mental toughness is about developing disciplines that can help you go out and win the day. After watching his dad go through financial trouble, it inspired Will to go into financial planning himself. Their company has a unique approach to being able to help people invest based on their values and convictions. 

Most investing and markets are driven by fear and greed. Their goal was to help people make the right financial decisions through value-based investing. Less than 1% of Christians invest based on their belief system. They exist to help their clients become good stewards of all they've been entrusted with. What does it look like to think of your money based on biblical values? How do you build a niche organization in the modern world? What is it like to push yourself as a business owner and leader? What was it like to quit their full-time jobs and start a business? 

These are all questions we'll walk through on today's episode of the flow method! 

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What happened when Entrepreneur Craig Lambert found himself working 72 hours a week? After leaving a well paying corporate job he built a business from the ground for over a decade. He and his wife had to risk everything to push into a new season of growth. There were moments when people closest to them questioned if they should be going down this path. 

Craig shares with us what it’s like to grow to a team of over 30 employees. We discuss cash flow, growing your customer base and how most business owners may eventually sell. Investors have now acquired part of their small business which has allowed Craig to step into a new season. How do we transition after a decade of doing one thing? 

What does the Bible say about stewardship and growing true wealth? Craig also shares with us how he’d counsel someone who was hoping to start a side hustle. Over the course of his life, he’s owned 12 businesses. When starting Creature Comforts, they had their business plan and cash to invest, but then came the time to go all in. Had they not done this, it would have drastically changed their story and ultimately their families legacy. 

Because of the sacrifice of Craig and his wife Donna, they now are able to live life on their terms. They put a line in the sand to never invest with debt again. No matter where you are on your journey of leadership, this conversation will encourage you to work hard and never give up on your dreams. 

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Is it possible to choose to be thankful? Is our lack of gratitude slowing us down?  On today's midday motivation, I want to talk about being thankful when you don't feel like it. Especially when you don't feel like it. There's an element of gratitude and these and we know from so many psychological studies and even spiritual studies, that gratitude has a way of getting us out of our funk. It gets us off of staring at ourself and everything that's going on, and it causes us to be grateful for the things that God's blessed us with.

 I don't know about you, but I do not always feel joyful. I don't always pray and I'm not thankful in all circumstances. But I do know that when I initiate those feelings, and I step into them, and I choose to feel that way, or I try my best to operate from that place, things get a little bit better. You can remind yourself of a truth or reality that kind of helps pull you out of your situation. 

"Always be joyful, never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus" 1 Thessalonians 5:16-8 

Gratitude does that for me to be thankful for things when I'm in my own funk or focused on my own self. When that trigger happens of anxiety, fear, worry your insecurity, you can think of that meditation or that prayer, and just for a moment, it might just lift you above that circumstance and allow you to see it differently.
 

Do you feel like you can't ever remember anything? I used to complain about this myself. With all the ideas, the vision, even small thoughts of creativity, what are we to do when they seem to pass us by sometimes. I think it's super important to write everything down. Today, I want to share some practical ways that you can get these ideas from your head onto paper. 

Although I truly do have good memory. I was choosing to make it harder on myself by not creating organization around my way of life. I was opening the door to forgetting things and prolonging the implementation of these new ideas. I was doing what many of us unknowingly do when it comes to productivity and life rhythm. I was chasing the adrenaline of hustle culture and taking pride in the way I was running my life in business.

To steward plans and thoughts is to value ourselves and all the beautiful things God has placed in us. This will not feel natural at first, but the more you do it, you will quickly see the fruit. I'm not asking you to change your personality or how you work. I'm simply telling you, what's working for me and how to create practices and rhythms around who you are and how you operate.

There are those moments where you're feeling very creative. You've got that adrenaline rush and you need to get some of these thoughts out of your mind and put them on paper. You don't have to use all those ideas. You don't have to implement every thing that you write down on paper, but by doing it, it gets a lot of those thoughts out of the clutter onto paper where you can see them and allows you to go into the rest of your day into the rest of your week with a clear and open mind.

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Are you the biggest fish in a small pond? Here's the truth, it feels really good to be the person in the room that knows everything and has the most experience. BUT where do you go from there? On today's MidDay Motivation, I want to speak about what it's like growing into a new space and why you need to be willing to grow. 

After seven years of being a videographer in the wedding industry, I kind of reached this wall where I realized, I'm a big fish in a small pond. As we started to step into creating YouTube content, podcasting, I felt like I was starting at zero again. I had no idea what to do. I was completely lost. To be honest, I forgot how hard it was to start something at zero. I went from being a big fish in a small pond to being a small fish in a big pond.

The beauty of that is there's a huge opportunity for learning and growth! 

Getting around people or fish for lack of better examples, that are bigger than us and better than us can be so beneficial! They've accomplished more than us, lived longer than us, and maybe have wisdom in an area that we don't have. We grow by being around people. You realize that things aren't quite as scary as you thought, when you go to write that book, start the business, or jumpstart that next idea, you begin to take those steps into those areas. 

We want to be in a place where we are willing to grow and can progress as a human, as a creator, as an artist. To say, I'm willing to not be the biggest so I can learn from others and progress at my own pace. 

"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." Proverbs 27:17 

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Midday Motivation is a short thought that will help motivate you throughout the day. It's my hope to encourage you in 5 minutes or less!

How much productivity is too much productivity? Is our drive to be productive 24/7 be hurting us? Productivity in business is a piece of you, it's not all of you. We all see those videos on YouTube telling you how to increase your productivity. They can be motivational but a lot of times these people are out of control with productivity. Today, I want to talk about what these productivity YouTubers get wrong.

Contrary to what hustle culture will tell you, sometimes you have to slow down to speed up. Sometimes you have to slow down and press pause to even figure out what you're doing. There are times that we need to push through, but there are other times when we just need to take a breather.

Many of us are so productivity prone that we have to step outside of that and realize that free space is a good thing. Free space is creative space!  I think we need to differentiate being lazy and embracing free time. Give yourself permission to have that free space in your life. Even small pockets of free and alone time in your day will leave you feeling refreshed and ready to get things done!

We need to extend and receive grace for the things that we may not get right. Growing a business is something I do, it's not who I am. As followers of Jesus we have to create space for God to move in our life. And be willing to be interrupted. We are to make a positive impact on the world around us with what we have been given. 

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Far too often the idea of working for free has been abused and taken advantage of BUT that doesn't mean we can't ever do it. For those who sacrifice there comes great rewards and profit. 

Today, I discuss the times when working for free can benefit you! If you're watching this video you may be looking to expand your mind, capacity, or skillset personally or as a business. Pursuing with the intention of growth instead of having a money only mindset is key! Taking on specific leads, jobs, or collaborations for free or for a discount can help you display your business' niche and establish more clients. Breaking into a new area can bring a lot of profit but it can be extremely hard. 

Even on your best days failure will come. If failure is inevitable it should set us free to try new things and get back to doing the things we love! Although this looks different for all of us, it can often begin by being willing to do something for free. It might just be more fun than you think!

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